PHENIX CITY, Ala. — Welcome to Phenix City, a land of red clay, green pines, and the murky blue Chattahoochee River. Time is bent here, contorted to wrap around the river as Phenix City recognizes Eastern Time due to the economic impact revolving around prominent
Army post Fort Benning across the Chattahoochee in Columbus, Ga. And it's a city that is home to a potential prodigy that college football fans will likely become familiar with sooner rather than later.
Braylen Averett.
He's all of 5-foot-9 right now and has worked diligently to get up to 165 pounds, maybe 170, as he's often fueled by mom and dad's chicken and rice. Dad, Brandon, is a principal at a local elementary school and a former standout defensive back at
Alabama State who's a key figure in Averett's training and development.
At a school like Phenix City Central, good players are frequent as the best from the Chattahoochee Valley flow into a program that provides seemingly endless protein-heavy meals for players multiple times a day and has a camera as well as a velocity tracker in every squat rack.
They take their football seriously, very seriously, in this easternmost part of the state. And so they've had some good ones roll through such as star wide receiver
Cam Coleman — his younger brother, BJ Coleman, is a senior signal caller for Central currently — and recent Top 40 draft pick
T.J. Parker.
Daylyn Upshaw is another receiver who was a Red Devil not that long ago, and he's currently starting for
Miami as a sophomore while coming off a career-high of 91 receiving yards in a dramatic double-overtime win over
Florida State.
Between Coleman and Upshaw, current wide receivers coach Cody Sanders has been around some good ones. Great ones, even. And Averett, well, he stands out as he currently leads all
Alabama sophomores with 896 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns a season after posting 939 yards as a freshman. "A lot of dudes come through this room. And he's absolutely the next one," Sanders said. "It's a shame more people don't see that." "It's been crazy, you know," Averett said of his recruitment. "It's a little stressful at times, but I'm very proud of where I've come from and how far I've gotten going on the road. It's been good."
That road from Phenix City can dart out north to
Auburn, northwest to Alabama, northeast to
Georgia, and south to Florida State or
Florida, or even Miami. Those are the programs that are primarily pushing for Averett currently, and some are even discussing the possibility of getting Averett to reclassify to the 2028 cycle. "We just want to make sure if he goes, he's ready to go. I mean, physically and maturity-wise, yeah," Flournoy said before grinning. "Age-wise, he's a little baby, but maturity and the physical part of the game? He's gonna be there for sure."
What makes the notion of reclassifying as an undersized prospect even remotely possible is how polished Averett is as a receiver. Body control and sudden twitch are evident parts of his game, with improved musculature leading to ascending contact balance to go along with high-level deep speed. Averett's favorite college player is Miami's
Malachi Toney, and he patterns his game after the diminutive yet dangerous sophomore star. Those around Phenix City have known about Averett for a while. He started playing when he was five, and got into pads at eight, which is when he (perhaps it's no coincidence) really started to realize he loved the game. By the time he was a freshman, Averett was already called up to Central's varsity squad. That's a rarity for the powerhouse. In his second varsity game, with Central facing off against Orlando power The First Academy and a defensive backfield loaded with P4 pledges, Averett announced himself to the tune of 136 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
"There was a lot of hype about him. We knew he was going to be special, that wasn't a surprise, but truth be told, we didn't know if he would be a receiver or a DB," Sanders said. "Well, that TFA game was our first opportunity to see what he was about, and I remember that he was nervous and busted like three plays early where he didn't get the signals.
"We were down 28-10 at half and had this crazy four-quarter comeback. At half, we had a come-to-Jesus moment to settle in and take a deep breath. Well, he erupted in the second half and one play that sticks out is he ran a post and split a corner and safety, one committed to
Oregon and the other committed to Nebraska. "This kid is 14 doing this? Come on, man." And he's only gotten better.
Miami: "I like how they turned it around down there. I love Malachi Toney, that's my favorite player. How they use him, that's how I see myself as a gadgety guy who can do everything. That's how I model my game, after him and JSN."
